Any Other Day
by PunkPinkPower
Summary: When all of the other Samurai Rangers come down with the flu, it's up to Kevin to nurse them back to health and take care of the Nighlock attacks.


Notes: Because _of course_ Kevin would be the only one to remember to get his flu shot. This was started for TheSecondBatgirl, who was sick, and I wanted to make her feel better, and so I started this, and then she got sicker? And then I got sick, and I stopped it, but never fear! I still wound up finishing it, and it's the thought that counts, right? 3 Also, the story Kevin reads to them is totally Disney Pixar's Brave, but I don't think it's enough to add that to the fandoms.

* * *

He realizes something is amiss when it's ten after and not even Jayden is up yet. He checks the clock in the kitchen to be sure, and when he comes back into the hallway, Ji is coming in from outside.

"Where is everyone?" He asks Kevin, who shrugs helplessly.

"I think they're still in bed," he says, looking around to be sure.

"It's not like Jayden to oversleep," Ji says cautiously, and Kevin nods.

"Mike, maybe," he teases, "but not Jayden."

"Hey," comes a grumpy voice from the hallway. "I heard that."

Kevin turns to see Mike, still in his PJ's, leaning against the door frame. He has his arms wrapped protectively around his stomach. "You look awful," Kevin says, going over to him.

"Not as awful as I feel," Mia says, coming down the hallway behind Mike.

Kevin reaches out, touches Mike's forehead, and then reaches over to Mia, touches her cheeks. "You're both burning up," he says, alarmed. "How long have you been like this?"

"Woke up this way," Mike says, and he presses his head against the cool surface of the wall.

"My throat started feeling funny last night before bed," Mia admits, touching her throat.

"Everyone else must be sick, too," Kevin determines, looking down the hallway at the three other closed doors.

"Feels like the flu," Mia says sorrowfully, and Kevin looks over at her.

"Didn't you get your flu shot?" He asks, and when she shakes her head, he looks at Mike, who gives him a sarcastic looking face. "Really?" Of course, Kevin thinks, he would be the only one intelligent enough to get his flu shot. "Unbelievable."

"The flu? Oh no," Ji says, and Kevin turns to see him covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve. "Both of you, get back to bed immediately. Kevin, I need you to go and check on the others."

Kevin frowns as Mike and Mia start wobbling down the hallway to their rooms. "What's wrong? It's just a flu bug. Surely _you_ got your flu shot? "

Ji shakes his head emphatically. "I can't get sick," he says, through his muffled sleeve. "Do you know what the flu does to people my age?"

Kevin raises an eyebrow at his mentor. "Exactly how old are you?" he asks skeptically.

"That's not the point," Ji says defensively, and then he gestures to the hall. "Please, Kevin, I need you to help look after everyone while they're sick. I'll help from out here, but I can't be exposed to their germs!"

Kevin sighs as Ji starts backing into the kitchen. "Unbelievable."

* * *

He checks on Emily first, taking the thermometer with him. She's burning up too, and he helps make her comfortable and tells her to stay in bed. She nods at him, and as he leaves she asks, "Can you bring a bucket… just in case?"

Kevin can already tell this is not going to be a fun day.

In fact, he almost can't decide what would be worse; having the flu, or having to be the one who takes care of five people sick with the flu.

Jayden is trying to get out of bed when Kevin goes in to see him, insisting that he has to train. He gets a little dramatic when Kevin tries to make him go back to bed.

"But Jayden," Kevin insists, trying not to shake his head as Jayden struggles to pull on his training pants, "Everyone is sick. Even if you could get up to train us, I'd be the only one able to do it."

"We have to be ready," Jayden says, wiping the sweat off his forehead, "for anything. What if a Nighlock attacks?"

"I'll handle it," Kevin promises, and he goes over and pushes Jayden back down into his bed gently and covers him up. "And that's all the more reason you should rest now, so that if one does attack, you'll be at your full strength."

Jayden nods reluctantly, and let's Kevin take his temperature. His is the highest yet, coming in at 102.

"I'll bring you something for the nausea," Kevin promises as he gets up to leave.

"Kevin," Jayden calls out, and Kevin turns back expectantly. "Whatever happens, I know you'll be able to handle it and protect the world. You're a great samurai."

Kevin raises his eyebrows at Jayden's sickness induced overdramatic flair. "You're not dying," Kevin promises, grinning. "I'll have you back on your feet in a day or two."

Jayden nods, but he doesn't look like he believes him. He probably thinks this is all a Nighlock plot to destroy the world by incapacitating the rangers. Who knows what hallucinations his sick brain will induce?

When he comes out of Jayden's room, the door to Antonio's room is open. Antonio isn't in it, and Kevin thinks that maybe he isn't sick either… until he hears crying coming from the bathroom.

Kevin pinches the space between his eyes, and goes over to the bathroom door. "Antonio?" he asks.

"Don't come in!" Antonio says, sobbing. "Let me die in peace!"

"Please tell me you at least made it to the toilet?" Kevin asks hopefully, and waits.

Antonio sobs some more. "I'm sorry," he says through the door. "I'm so sorry!"

Kevin sighs. This is going to be a very, very long day.

* * *

When he finally gets Antonio back into bed and gets the mess in the bathroom cleaned up, Kevin heads back out in the kitchen for supplies.

It smells heavily of bleach, Kevin realizes as he comes in, and he sees Ji at the stove. "Well, no one's dead," Kevin says conversationally.

Ji starts, like Kevin has surprised him, and when he turns to him, Kevin gives him his best 'You've got to be kidding me' look.

Ji has on one of those paper face masks, and he holds out his hands. "Don't touch anything!" He says frantically, and he goes over to the counter and grabs a big bottle of hand sanitizer. He holds it out to Kevin, but when Kevin tries to take it he pulls it back. "You're contaminated," Ji tells him seriously, and he makes a motion for Kevin to hold out his hands.

Kevin does so, and Ji squirts an unnecessary amount of sanitizer into them. When Kevin rubs it in, Ji at least seems to calm down. Kevin refrains from pointing out that hand sanitizer usually just spreads germs around instead of killing them.

"I'm making everyone some soup," he says, stirring the big pot on the stove. "That bowl there has cold water and washcloths for cold compresses," he gestures to a large wooden bowl on the counter, "and the Pepto Bismal is in the fridge."

"What," Kevin asks, opening the fridge and pulling out the gross pink liquid, "No ancient herbal nausea remedies?"

"Please," Ji huffs dismissively, waving a hand at him. "What do I look like? A shaman?"

Kevin smiles, and takes the Pepto and the large bowl of water with him as he heads back into the rooms. He pauses, though, and calls back to Ji, "Ji? I think we're also going to need some buckets."

* * *

Kevin gives everyone a hearty dose of Pepto Bismal, puts cool compresses on all their heads, and brings up buckets as a just in case measure.

"No, don't leave," Mike tells him, grabbing for his arm when Kevin picks up the bowl of cold water to take out. "I don't want to be alone!"

Kevin rolls his eyes at the green samurai. "I think that's the fever talking."

"I'm sick," Mike pouts, "and I'm bored and I feel gross and I don't want to be alone!"

Surprisingly, this is pretty much the sentiment he gets from everyone else. Antonio promises him money to stay and read him a story, and Emily promises her undying love if he won't let her die from this flu bug.

He knows it's the fevers, and that most people resort to being sick children when there is someone willing to take care of them while they are sick, but at the same time, Kevin feels sort of bad for them. He knows they aren't actually scared of dying, but they are sick, and well, he wouldn't want to be left alone either.

So he has Ji set up the infirmary cots in the largest empty room, but Ji makes sure Kevin understands that he'll be the one sterilizing the house when everyone's better. So one by one, Kevin helps them get to the room where they can all be sick together.

"I think," Mike says to Antonio and Jayden when Kevin is going to get the girls, "We should find a way to blame this on Mia's cooking."

Kevin gives Mike a look, but Jayden laughs.

When he has Emily and Mia piled into the room too, Antonio asks if he can't rearrange his pillows, and everyone wants new cold compresses.

If anything, being in the same room has made them all more demanding, because what one of them wants, they all want.

Kevin brings them all fresh cold compresses along with the thick soup broth Ji has made them.

"I don't think I can keep anything down," Mia laments, holding the bowl of soup.

"It's mostly water," Kevin coaxes, passing her a spoon.

"It would be easier," Antonio says suggestively, "with bendy straws."

Mike and Antonio look up hopefully. "Don't push your luck," Kevin warns.

Emily laughs, takes a big slurp of her soup to stifle it.

When Kevin collects their bowls, he goes over and tucks Emily's blanket back up around her shoulders as she shivers. "You're so nice, Kevin," she says sleepily, closing her eyes. "We're lucky you're around."

* * *

Everyone passes out after the food, which is good, because Kevin is starved. Ji makes him wash out the germ infested bowls in the sink and wash his own hands several times before Ji pulls out some nicely cooked pork chops for them.

"This my reward for keeping you from getting the flu?" Kevin wonders, digging into the veggie stir fry on the side hungrily.

"Sure," Ji says, spooning apple sauce onto his own plate. "I only had the two in the freezer," he admits with a small smile, "and I've been looking for an excuse to cook them. Planning meals for a house full of people isn't as easy as it looks."

"Unless you're Mia," Kevin says with a small smirk. "And then you just throw everything in the fridge into a pot and hope for the best."

Ji shudders.

* * *

"We've decided," Mike says conversationally when Kevin goes back into the room a few hours later, "That we need a bell."

"A bell?" Kevin says, raising one eyebrow suspiciously.

"To ring for you," Mike says happily, sitting up in his bed a little bit. "When we need something."

Kevin rolls his eyes, goes over to feel Mike's forehead. "You're fever's coming down," he says, and then he checks everyone else. Jayden is also feeling a little cooler, but the others are still burning up, and Emily is still asleep.

"It's not a bad idea," Jayden says, and Kevin looks at him questioningly. "The bell."

"Not you, too." Kevin says, feeling betrayed. Apparently, being sick makes Jayden a little more playful.

Jayden smiles. "I can make you one right now," he offers, waving his samurizer.

Kevin goes over and takes the samurizer out of his hand with a stern look. "Sick people don't get to use their symbol power," Kevin decrees, and he reaches over and grabs Mike's samurizer too before Mike can tuck it away. "All your energy should be going into getting better."

"Awe," Mike complains, crossing his arms. "You are no fun."

Mia tosses her forehead towel at Mike. "Be nice to Kevin," she commands from her position on her side. "He can hold back your medicine, remember?"

Mike is opening his mouth to answer when the Nighlock alarm goes off. It wakes Emily up with a start, and Jayden is about to force himself out of bed when Kevin presses a firm hand to his shoulder. "You're in no shape to fight," he says, and Jayden looks like he wants to object. "I can handle this. I'll call you if I get into trouble."

Jayden nods, but says, "Take the black box."

Kevin does.

* * *

At first, this particular Nighlock seems to be no big deal. He's got a nasty spitfire attack that Kevin gets hit with once and then learns how to avoid, but Kevin has him on the ropes before he uses his other attack.

Of course, _of course,_ it would be disgusting, power-sapping projectile goo that he gets covered in. He barely manages to keep himself from throwing up at how vomit-like it looks.

When he gets back after defeating it, all he wants to do is take a long, hot shower.

First, he stops in to check on the other rangers.

"I swear," Kevin says as he opens the door, and they all look over at him expectantly. "I swear if any of you throw up on me while you are sick…" and he doesn't actually know what he's going to threaten them with, so he waves his finger around for a moment before finishing weakly, "Bad things will happen."

And he leaves the room before anyone can object and goes to take a shower.

* * *

"Kevin?" Ji's voice echoes down the hallway as Kevin finishes pulling on a clean shirt, and he peaks his head out of his room. "They're ringing for you!"

Kevin frowns, because really? Really? He should have known to take Emily and Mia's samurizers as well.

Sure enough, when Kevin goes back into the room, Mike is ringing a nice big bell. Kevin crosses his arms, does his best to look stern.

"I told you he'd be mad," Emily scolds, pulling her blanket up around her grinning face.

Instead of being infuriated, Kevin curtseys to them. "You rang?"

Antonio giggles, though his eyes are closed, and he's sweating something awful.

Jayden reaches over and takes the bell from Mike, sets it down on the floor. "We wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed… upset after the battle."

"Upset with us, he means," Mike clarifies.

"Wait, hold on," Kevin says, amused. "You rang for me to see how I was feeling? I'm… oddly touched."

"See?" Mike says, holding out his arms and looking around. "I told you guys he wouldn't mind."

Mia laughs, and then coughs. Kevin goes over to her, takes a tongue compressor and makes her say 'aw'. "I'm going to get you something to sooth your throat," Kevin tells her, and she nods. "Anyone else having new symptoms."

"Just Mia," Antonio says sleepily, and it reminds Kevin to check his temperature, which has skyrocketed.

He puts a fresh cold compress on Antonio's head.

"Kevin?" Emily asks as Kevin is leaving the room, and he stops, turns towards her. She hesitates, bites her lip. Then she waves him forward, and Kevin goes back over so she can whisper in his ear without the others hearing.

Kevin pulls away to look at her skeptically. "Really?"

She nods. "They won't complain a bit, and I'll even keep Mike from making fun of you."

"I wouldn't be making promises you can't keep over there," Mike calls out, his voice amused.

Kevin shakes his head, grins, and leaves the room.

He comes back a while later with more medicine for everyone, some hot chamomile tea for Mia, and Emily's request.

"What's that?" Mia wants to know after she takes a careful sip of her tea.

"Apparently," Kevin says, glancing over the back of the book, "It's a fairy tale involving princesses and bears."

"Oh," Antonio says weakly from his bed, "Are we having story time?"

And before Mike can say anything, Emily tosses a rolled up piece of paper at his head. He gives her an annoyed look, and she gestures to the paper. Mike opens it, reads it, and glares over at her suspiciously.

"You fight dirty," he accuses good naturedly, and Emily giggles.

"Go ahead Kevin," she says, making a small gesture with her hand. "Please."

Jayden shifts a bit, gets comfortable, and everyone is looking at him expectantly; even Mike, though he has his arms crossed in a way that says he's being bribed.

Kevin opens the book. "Years ago when I was a wee girl, on a perfect day with my parents, my father Fergus, the King, gave me a bow. But as I started practicing, I saw something in the forest." He pauses, looks at the picture beside the words. "Is this what I think it is?"

Emily nods enthusiastically. "Keep going!"

So Kevin reads the story, with occasional interruptions of excitement from Emily and Antonio, small quips about plot and circumstances from Jayden, and occasional stifled coughs from Mia.

It ends with the princess changing her mother back from being a bear in a rather heartfelt way, and Kevin grins as he closes the book. Emily lets out a happy sigh, slumped down in her bed.

Kevin looks over at her with a smile, and then he turns back to the others and is brought up short by Mike, who is out cold, put to sleep by the story.

"He's sort of adorable when he sleeps," Jayden quips, turning on his side. "Almost makes up for the rest of the time."

Kevin grins, shares a commiserating look with Jayden.

"Shhh," Mia laughs, setting her mug of tea down. "Don't wake him up."

"You should all go to sleep," Kevin says, and he reaches over and gently pulls the green blanket up over Mike's chest. Then he checks Antonio's fever, puts a fresh cold compress on his head, helps Mia get comfortable, and turns out the lights on them.

"Kevin," Jayden calls out gently, indicating the floor next to his bed. "Take the bell, or you'll be up at the crack of dawn."

Kevin gently picks up the bell without making a sound, and tiptoes out of the room.

* * *

The next day, it's clear everyone is on the mend. Kevin brings them breakfast, and Antonio's fever finally breaks after he finishes eating. Mia still has a bit of a cough, but Mike and Emily are out of bed and playing a game of cards on the floor within a few minutes, and Jayden is stretching.

"Let's not tell Ji just yet," Jayden says casually, swinging his arms. Kevin crosses his arms and gives Jayden a stern look. "Just in case we have a recurrence," he insists, but there's a deceptive glint in his eye, one that says even he can help the team have a day off every now and then.

Ji still insists on making Kevin sanitize himself before any kind of contact with the surfaces in the rest of the house or with Ji himself, so Kevin spends the day lazing in the room with his friends.

"We should take sick days more often," Mia says from her bed, watching Antonio braid Emily's hair. Kevin is sitting on the floor with Jayden and Mike, playing a cutthroat game of slap jack. He looks up for a moment at Mia when she speaks, and she catches his eyes with a wink. "Nighlock attacks notwithstanding."

"Really," Mike agrees, putting down a card and keeping his hand hovering. It's an ace. "This job should come with some serious benefits. Medical, dental, sick time, required vacation…"

Jayden puts his own card down not even looking, giving Mike a skeptical look. "You get free room and board, super powers, and the satisfaction of knowing you saved the world."

"And us," Antonio chirps in helpfully.

"And us," Jayden agrees with a smile. "What more could you want?"

"I guess," Mike agrees, watching Kevin slap down his card.

Cards go flying as they all scramble to slap the jack, and Jayden pulls back his hand laughing.

"Really," Emily says when the commotion calms down, "I think we get plenty of rewards for what we do. Look at all the people we've helped, all the good we've done. That's important. We've got a lifetime of good deeds piled up."

"And each other," Antonio says happily, and Emily grins, nods.

"And each other," she agrees. Kevin shoots the two of them an amused look.

Another Jack pops up in their game, and this time Kevin wins, and he lets himself cheer his victory.

"I know," Mia says, continuing the conversation like nothing has happened. "We've very lucky, and I can't complain. But sometimes, days like this are nice. Just hanging out, not worrying about training, or saving the world. Just… being."

"Cough and fevers included at no extra charge," Mike quips.

"Yeah," Mia admits, rolling over in her bed to grab her mug of tea. "That part I could do without."

"But it's special," Antonio says, "because we're 'just being' together."

"We heard you the first time," Kevin says, amused, but they all end up staring over at Antonio, who just grins knowingly.

"Make fun if you want," Antonio says, tying off Emily's braid with a hair tie. "I wouldn't trade you guys for all the other benefits in the world."

They all start when the Nighlock alarm sounds, and Kevin stands, ready to go do battle. This time though, everyone gets up with him.

"If you're not feeling up to it," he warns, but Jayden places a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks to you," he says happily, "we're ready to take on whatever Xandred can throw at us today."

Kevin grins ruefully as they head out to face the Nighlock. "I don't know," he says, as they break into a run. "You didn't see the one yesterday."


End file.
